Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. The main field of study must be within the humanities or the social sciences. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following knowledge, skills, and competencies:

● Knowledge and understanding of the historical development of research on user perspectives and user needs in digital information systems.

● The ability to critically and systematically reflect on the epistemological prerequisites for studying information structures and functions in various digital platforms and how these platforms and systems affect the mediation of information.

● Knowledge and understanding of participatory culture in digital contexts and the ability to critically apply models for understanding and analysing participatory culture and its forms of information production.

● The ability to critically assess digitally linked platforms and systems, informed by user and information-mediation perspectives

Content

The purpose of this course is to provide a better understanding of information-mediating digital platforms that contain material of relevance to the digital humanities. The course provides a historical perspective on the central role of users in modern digital environments. The course also focuses on those elements and factors that affect how users use information and digital infrastructures. The importance of linked content and network ecologies is discussed, specifically with regard to platform functionalities and algorithms. The course is also intended to provide knowledge of participatory culture and practices relevant to the digital humanities.

Instruction

The instruction will take place in the form of lectures, seminars, or group work.

Assessment

The course is examined through a combination of individual or group-based written or oral assignments. All examinations are compulsory.

Active participation in the seminars is required to fulfil the course requirements.

Any student who misses a compulsory teaching element will have the opportunity to submit a supplementary assignment, the scope of which will reflect the workload that would have been required to actively participate in the teaching element in question. All compulsory teaching elements in a course must be completed before the course can be passed, but only a minority of them can be completed via supplementary assignments.

All elements of the course will be assessed with one of the grades Pass with credit, Pass, and Fail.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Course examinations and assignments are designed to be completed without the use of generative computational tools, including AI. This is a crucial step in how the course facilitates accomplishment of the intended learning outcomes. Unless otherwise stated in the course instructions, the use of generative computational tools, including AI, for the execution of examinations and assignments is prohibited